The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is currently inviting applications for its Conservation & Community Partnerships Grant Program with an aim to foster partnerships between organizations interested in improving forest management in the United States and Canada, and responsible procurement globally.

Grant Categories

SFI Conservation Grants: SFI Inc. is placing a priority on projects that measure, demonstrate, or establish methodologies to demonstrate, the conservation-related values of SFI-certified forestlands, or values promoted by the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard. Particular attention will be paid to applications focused on conservation values in the areas of water, climate change (including both carbon attributes and forest resiliency), and biodiversity.

SFI Community Grants: The purpose of SFI’s Community Partnerships Grant Program is to elevate and enrich the link between people and forests. SFI awards grants to collaborative community-based projects, activities or events which support SFI’s core mission to connect communities to forests.

Avoiding controversial sources of fiber such as those resulting from illegal logging,

Assisting local communities through forest education programs and green building projects for low-income families.

Funding Information

SFI have found that most successful conservation grants are in the range of $15,000 to $30,000 per year, though some have been more, and a few have been less.

Community grants are typically in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

All grants have a maximum allowable SFI funding period of three years.

Eligibility Criteria

Conservation Proposals

The project results must have implications or benefits that are applicable to other sites, or which may be adaptable to a larger scale.

The Project Lead Organization (i.e. the Applicant) must be a tax exempt, non-profit organization (e.g., a 501(c) (3) in the US or registered with the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency in Canada) whose scope encompasses expertise in improved forest management, forest conservation, wildlife habitat, water resources, or other areas that would support a project related to one or more of the topics outlined in the RFP.

Applicants must submit a tax identification number as proof of tax-exempt status within the Online Application Form.

All Project Partners involved in the Project must agree to authorize SFI Inc. to publicize the Project and to use their names, images, logos and information about the Project in such publicity.

Community Proposals

The Lead Organization in the Project must be a registered, tax-exempt (for example, a 501(c) (3) in the US or registered with the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency in Canada), non-profit and/or charitable organization. Applicants must submit proof of tax-exempt status with this application.

Please note: SFI Implementation Committees, colleges and universities qualify as tax-exempt organizations. Indigenous groups are also eligible to apply. Additional non-profit conservation or community partners will increase the strength of the application.

Projects must be collaborative and involve at least one Project Partner, in addition to the Lead Organization. Additional Project Partners may strengthen the proposal.

The applicant must agree to authorize SFI Inc. to publicize the Project and to use their name, images, logos and information about the Project in such publicity. The Lead Organization should submit the signed Communications Agreement with this application.